Posted on 07/19/2022 7:02:50 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Experts say the transmission rates of the BA.2.75 variant are showing an exponential increase, particularly in India, where it is competing with BA.5.
As the U.S. battles the rapidly spreading BA.5 omicron subvariant, a new mutant that could compete with the highly contagious strain is on the horizon.
Scientists say the variant – called BA.2.75 – may be able to evade immunity from vaccines and prior infection. The latest mutant has been spotted in several distant states in India and appears to be spreading faster than other variants there. It’s unclear whether it could cause more serious disease than other omicron variants, including the prominent BA.5.
Tufts Medical Center's Dr. Shira Doron, Boston Medical Center's Dr. Sabrina Assoumou and Brigham and Women's Hospital's Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes explained whether we should worry about the new variant during NBC10 Boston's latest "COVID Q&A" discussion.
Experts say the transmission rates of the BA.2.75 variant are showing an exponential increase, particularly in India. It makes up about a quarter of the cases there and seems to be competing with BA.5 as the dominant strain. Some health officials expect cases will continue to grow, but how the subvariant might impact the U.S. remains to be seen.
"We often look to see what happens overseas to try to foreshadow what is going to happen here. These particular subvariants have had very different behaviors," Assoumou said. "There's been a different mix of infection-acquired immunity versus vaccine-acquired immunity, so it's a little hard to know how it's going to behave here in the U.S."
The population in India has a different immunity than those in the U.S., Boston doctors said, because different vaccines were given at various times and different variants circulated at various times. Those variables result in fluctuating levels of infection-induced immunity.
"We cannot assume that what's happening there will happen here, and yet we do have to prepare for surges. We are always now preparing for surges," Doron said. "Variants will emerge that evade immunity from the vaccine and prior infection, and we can't ever quite know exactly what they're going to do to our case rates until we get there."
The highly contagious BA.5 omicron subvariant has taken over as the dominant coronavirus strain in recent weeks and is fueling concerns about a potential summer surge. The threat of the BA.2.75 variant in India underscores the importance of global vaccination, according to Assoumou, who said, "We're not going to be able to get over this pandemic if we don't make sure that everyone, everywhere, is safe."
Moderna recently announced that it is developing two potential booster shots targeting the omicron subvariants, the Wall Street Journal reported, which could be rolled out by the fall. But Doron questioned whether variant-specific vaccines are a sufficient long-term solution, considering a new variant could always be lurking around the corner.
"It's the same story. It could be a problem, and it could not be a problem," Doron said of BA.2.75. "We can watch what a variant or some variant does in another country. We should always prepare for it to do that thing here. You know, it's expect the worst and hope for the best. That's all we can do. It's going to be impossible to predict. And how it behaves in one place may not predict how it behaves in another."
"I agree," Kuritzkes said. "We'll have to watch and see what happens -- whether this new variant really spreads significantly and if so, what it looks like. Right now, there's little we can do other than watching it."
Public health experts have been concerned about the possibility of a summer surge and now Massachusetts COVID wastewater data seems to be backing that up.
My posts are demonstrated 95% safe and effective.
The virus doesn’t care if you hide. Why would you obsess over such fear.
It’s cold logic. If you are not around to be infected, you won’t be infected, unless you think it happens by radio waves or telepathy. Your fear isn’t going to change this.
What is it you want society to do to maximize life expectancy
You misunderstand. I’m not afraid. I’ll live my life as normal. Since I recovered from a very mild case of COVID in May of 2021, I’ve had MULTIPLE direct confirmed exposures without any reinfection.
I still have robust antibody levels.
YOU are the one terrified of the virus and you want everyone else to be afraid like you.
We aren’t. We don’t care. You won’t convince anyone otherwise. Life goes on.
FEAR NOT DEATH FOR THE HOUR OF YOUR DOOM IS SET AND NONE MAY ESCAPE IT.
And again, what is it you want society to do to maximize Life Expectancy? Try not to let fear influence the cold decision that faces us, because your fear is not going to affect the quality of that decision.
I understand how the fearful do not want to examine this. Do nothing condemns them to committing murder by inaction. Do something condemns them to some very likely significant inconvenience.
So try to coldly evaluate the question. Do something or do nothing? Only after you make the choice of SOMETHING from common decency do you have any other decisions to make. Do it coldly. Don’t let your fear be involved.
The reason Nicotine works is because its a Positive Allosteric Modulator.
https://comptes-rendus.academie-sciences.fr/biologies/item/CRBIOL_2020__343_1_33_0/.
It's proposed that the spike protein shares some amino acid sequences with a particular neurotoxin which can de-regulate a receptor known as the “Alpha-7 Nicotinic Acetylecholine Receptor” That's where the snake venom crap came from.
There are agents that can counteract this de-regulation and improve the acetylecholine receptor's ability to function properly. These are known as POSITIVE ALLOSTERIC MODULATORS (look up “allostery”) and include:
• Nicotine
• Ivermectin
• An enzyme found in curcumine (Indian spice known commonly as “turmeric”)
• Ethanol
Looks like smoking, drinking with an occasional horsepaste chaser is good for you after all.
You keep repeating yourself. Over and over and over again. You keep using the word “fear” projecting your own insecurities in everyone else.
I’ll be as clear as I can (although I thought I already made this clear).
Yes. We do nothing. It’s in God’s hands.
I’m not afraid. You are.
Actuarys rule
Ahh God’s hands. That way you don’t have to endure any inconvenience in service of the absurd goal of having old people live out their full lives. And hey, because it’s in God’s hands, you get conscience balm. You get to blame it on God.
Choosing the immoral choice of doing nothing gets excused by blaming God. How very clever. God will be impressed.
Yes, yes.
Let the hate flow through you.
Let that rage and fear consume you!
How much it must pain you that others don’t embrace your fear, isolationism and COVID worship.
How much it must pain you to realize that others are going to live our lives without being fixated on our own morality and terrified of the morrow.
How much it must pain you to realize that you can’t control me.
Embrace the rage, because that’s all you are going to get. Your control has failed.
:-)
That’s a new one to me.
Isn’t that also in God’s hands?
This is somewhat revealing. Preferring to do nothing because it is so very . . . preferable and escaping any responsibility by pointing at God.
biden proved the kung flu is a scam when he waltzed into the white house, disbanded trump’s “operation warp speed”, opened our southern border, and continues to spread over 2,000,000 (2 million) nondocumented unvaccinated invaders across our country during a supposed “global pandemic” while anthony fauci, the cdc, the nih, the world health organization, the enemedia, hollywierd, and the majority of our elected representatives sit back and watch...
trust the biden administration to protect you and your own health at your own peril...
I think it’s more amusing to think that you or anyone else has the power to do anything. Very arrogant if you.
Regardless, no matter how much it enrages you, I will do nothing. I will go where I please. I will not avoid people and there is absolutely Nothing that you can do about it.
Go back to your cave and hide if you like.
You are dead already because you are too afraid to live.
Okay this has gone off track. The question is what does society do to stop the loss of Life Expectancy. Does one do something or does one do nothing.
If one chooses to do nothing and LE continues to drop, then what? Accept it as God’s will rather than venture forth to trying something?
We’re not talking about vax or mask. We haven’t defined something. One can define it after one decides to do something about old people dying before their time.
There are clearly things that could be done that would work. Why would society choose to do nothing? No, not masks. Not vax. They don’t seem to work well.
But there ARE things that could be done. Is it somehow moral to allow people to die when society could prevent it? Is shrugging and attributing it to God’s choice reasonable. You could do that driving your car. Just take hands off the wheel and leave it all to God. I doubt you do that.
You keep repeating yourself.
I made it clear.
Nothing, that’s what we do.
Nothing,
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“My happiness is not the means to any end. It is the end. It is its own goal. It is its own purpose. Neither am I the means to any end others may wish to accomplish. I am not a tool for their use. I am not a servant of their needs. I am not a bandage for their wounds. I am not a sacrifice on their altars.”
Jim, thank you for stating that the virus is not behaving as science would predict. Since I’ve stayed away from reading about covid for months, I returned to find out if scientists had made this observation. In my family, certain anxious individuals, warn that one must keep getting boosted. However after 2 vaccines and 1 booster, all of which caused suffering beyond normal vaccine responses, I don’t want another booster. Do you have a clear idea about what to do? Thanks,
T.W.
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